Cable anchor for winding drums



1951 R. N. CORDREY ETAL 1,

' CABLE ANCHOR FOR WINDING DRUMS Filed May 15, 1950 INVENTORS 'Rfch -g N CordreY BY Dallas E.- Wrigh'i' ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 16, 1951 CABLE ANCHOR FOR WINDING DRUMS Richard N. Cordrey and Dallas E. Wright, Toledo,

Ohio, assignors to The National Supply Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application May 13, 1950, Serial No. 161,828

4 Claims.

Our invention relates to a cable anchoring means for anchoring the end of a cable to a winding drum as used with hoisting equipment.

The particular adaptation disclosed in the instant invention is for use with hoisting equipment used in the oil field, although it is to be understood that it may be advantageously used on any device requiring the use of a flexible line engaging the outer surface of a winding drum to elevate or lower loads.

The principal object of our invention is to provide a new and novel means of anchoring the end of the wire line or flexible cable to the drum upon which it is to be wound in such a manner that it is easy to engage and disengage from the drum for replacement, yet is securely locked against accidental disengagement with the drum during the operation of the hoist.

Another object of our invention is to provide an efiective cable anchoring means which will also maintain the cable in as nearly a straight line as possible while the cable is being wound upon or unwound from the drum.

Another object of our invention is to provide a new and novel means of anchoring the wire line or flexible cable to the winding drum by means of a specially designed clamp which is first attached near the end of the line and then locked into a socket integral with the starting strip or cable guide on the side of the flange adjacent the drum.

Another object of our invention is to provide a means for anchoring a flexible cable or wire line to a winding drum completely from the drum side without the necessity of removing any of the guards protecting the winding mechanisms or brake bands adjacent to the winding drum.

Other objects and advantages, particularly those pertaining to the features of construction embodying our invention, will be more fully apparent from a perusal of the drawings, specification and claims forming a part of this application wherein like parts are designated by like numerals.

Fig. 1 is an elevational view, partly in section, as at l--| of Fig. 2, showing an assembly of a winding drum incorporating the embodiment of our invention and including a portion of the cable anchored to the drum flange and wound upon the drum.

Fig. 2 is an end view of the drum assembly shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a plan View of the clamp socket incorporating the cable anchor, which is the crux of the instant invention, drawn to an enlarged scale.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the anchor pocket of the socket taken on the lines 44-44 of Fig. 3 and including the cable clamp and a fragment of the cable shown in light lines in operative position in said pocket.

Fig. 5 is a sectional View of the cable opening in the socket and taken on the line 55 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is an assembly view of the cable clamp secured to a fragment of the cable.

In the drilling of oil Wells heavy wire lines or flexible cables are wound upon suitable spooling drums to handle the extremely heavy loads. Care must be taken to properly anchor the cable to suitable sized drum so as not to incur kinks or sharp bends in the cable as this would soon produee very destructive stresses in the cable and materially shorten its life and in so doing endanger the lives of the operators of the drilling rig as well as cause considerable damage to the drilling equipment, and even might cause the loss of the well due to dropping a string of drill pipe into the well bore being drilled.

The winding drum is of the free spooling type mounted upon roller bearings (not shown). This highly desirable feature is especially essential for use with drilling rigs to insure fast falling of the comparatively light line and empty hook. Naturally when a load is picked up with the hook an exceedingly heavy strain is placed upon the complete unit.

The winding drum assembly is made up of a barrel or spooling drum I, end flanges 2 and 3 and the hubs ll and 5 all secured together, as by welding or any other suitable means, to form a unitary structure.

The rotary side end flange 2, from which the wire line or flexible cable 6 starts to wind upon the drum I, comprises the salient feature of this invention and consists of the metal disc I and the wire line clamp socket 8. The outer contour of the socket 8 is circular in form for nearly three quarters of its circumference, from one three quarter point of which it is enlarged into an open ended bulbous recess 9, which has its open end terminating in the same axial plane as the outer surface of the drum I. The outer contour of the socket is completed by extending the metal substantially tangential from the opposite three quarter point to the outer end of the bulbous recess 9. The recess in the socket is so formed as to allow the wire line 6 to lead off on to the outer surface of the drum 1 without kinking, thus avoiding any detrimental effects to the line 6.

To accommodate a second course of wire line and to further prevent kinking and wedging of the line 6 between the end of the flange and the recess in the socket a starting strip or cable guide In of a uniform height equal to the diameter of the cable 6 is formed integral with the socket 8,, tapering outwardly and axially of the drum I from the drum side of the flange -1 to a point at the edge of the recess 9 where it is the width of the diameter of the wire line 6 and there terminating. The disk .1 and the socket -8 are joined together, as by welding or other suitable means, to form the unitary rotary side end flange 2 for the drum assembly and this unitary structure is permanently secured to the barrel or drum l as by welding or other suitable means.

The drillers side end flange -3-is likewise welded or otherwise secured to the opposite end of the drum I, thus forming a complete spoo'ling or winding drum. As stated above, the drum is of the free spooling type and this is accomplished by securing the hubs 4 and 5 at their proper re- .spectiveplaceswithin the iborecf "the drum I by welding or-other suitable means. Roller bearings (not shown) .are fitted into these hubs, which in turn support the drumassembly upona shaft (not shown) for rotation.

Awire line clamp H is secured to the wire line 6 near itsouter .end by means of the clamp bolts 12 and nuts 13. The innerend of the clamp l i, that is, the end furtherest removed from the extreme outer end of the wire line 6, is frusto-coni real in form, as .at M to engage and fit into the frusto-conical orztapered ortion 15in the socket 8.

A hole 115 is provided in the closed end ll of .the socket through which the wire line 6 protrudes. This hole serves two important func tions. First, it provides a clearance space for the end .of the line :6 to project through while the clamp H is :being inserted into the recess 9. Secondly, if the tapered end of :the clamp 'l i is not securely seated in the frusto-conical portion I5 in the socket, then the end of the line 6 protruding through the hole 1.6 help to lock the line in place and prevents the clamp H from jumping out of the socket :8, that is, the end .of the line keeps the clamp in line with the socket recess and tension on the line pulls the clamp back into the tapered portion of the socket.

Another feature :of this invention is that the line 6 and .clamp III may be inserted into the recess 9 from the drum side of the assembly without removing any guards protecting 'the winding mechanisms or brake Lbands adjacent the winding drum. Furthermore, our cable anchor means is superior to many .others on the market today in that there is no opening in the drum proper that tends to weaken the said drum. It is impossible to kink or bend the wire line, as it leaves the cable socket substantially flush with .the drum and tangential to it. The cable guide is formed integral with the socket casting and guides the line in its first complete turn about the drum so that the second row of the line Will not wedge itself into the line of the first row at a point where the line leaves the socket to enter upon the drum.

While only the preferred form of our invention has been disclosed herein, we do not wish to be limited or restricted to the specific details set forth but wish to reserve to ourselves any further embodiments, modifications and variations that may appear to those skilled in the art or come within the scope of the appended claims.

Having fully described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by United States Letters Patent is:

1. Acable anchoring means for winding drums having end flanges, comprising in combination with the cable and the drum to receive the same, ,a-cable clamp secured to the cable near one end thereof to tightly grip the same, an enlarged open ended bulbous recess within one end flange extending outwardly beyond the end face of said drum and tangent to the outer surface of said drum to receive said cable and cable clamp, the {termination of said open end lying in the same axial plane as the outer surface of said drum, a cable guide formed integral with said end flange having said recess therein starting at the intersection of the cable opening and the outer surface of the drum and tapering outwardly from said flange to the width of said cable 'at'one complete revolution and there terminating, said guide 'being uniformly of a height equal to the cable diameter, being thus adapted to receive thereon a second layer of :cable.

2. A cable-anchoring means forwinding drums, comprising in combination a cable, .a cable clamp positioned near one end of said cable :to securely grip the same, a clam socket adapted "to receive said cable and clamp, a flange secured to said socket to form an integral end for said drum, a spooling drum to receive said cable and secured to said socket, a second flange secured to said drum at the end opposite from said socket, a wedge shaped cable guide integral with said socket on the drum side and substantially flush with said socket at the cable opening and tapering outwardly along the axial outer surface of said drum to the width of the cable at one complete revolution and there terminating, said guide being uniformly of a height equal to the diameter of a single layer of said cable, being thus adapted to receive thereon a second layer of cable, said socket being internally recessed above the outer surface of said drum to receive the cable and cable clamp.

3. A combination as called for in claim 1 wherein the open ended recess is provided with an internal frusto-conical portion to snugly receive said cable clamp and cable.

4. A combination, as called for in claim 1, wherein the recess is closed at the end opposite from the open end except for an opening therethrough to receive the free end of said cable extending beyond the outer end of said clamp, thereby providing a lock for said cable and clamp in said recess.

RICHARD N. CORDREY. DALLAS E. WRIGHT.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Simpson July 10, 1923 Number 

